s issn 0967-859x the society for earthquake …...valentina putrino (university college london)...

1SECED Newsletter Vol. 29 No. 1 April 2018 | For updates on forthcoming events go to www.seced.org.uk

ISSN 0967-859XTHE SOCIETY FOR EARTHQUAKE AND

CIVIL ENGINEERING DYNAMICS

NEWSLETTERVolume 29 No 1

April 2018

SE

S E C E DED

In this issue

SECED Young Members’ Group 1

Dynamic Response of a Struc-ture with a Basement Sited in Liquefiable Soil 4

Existing Methods and New Technologies for Damage Assessment in Post-Disaster Reconnaissance Missions 5

A Review of Site Amplification in the Kathmandu Valley During the 2015 Mw 7.6 Gorkha Earth-quake 7

Notable Earthquakes January 2017 – December 2017 9

SECED Earthquake Competition Result 2017 13

We are delighted to be able to present this special issue of the SECED newsletter to introduce the newly formed Young Members’ Group and its

Subcommittee. The intent of the group is to promote and encourage integration across the full membership of the Society, by providing a platform for communication and discussion both within the student and young members’ community, and with the more established members of SECED. There are many different ways in which we hope to do this, but we plan to include career development/net-working events, outreach and educational programmes linking with both the Institution of Civil Engineers and STEM, additional meetings, development of the social

media presence of the Society, and much more. These goals align with the Society’s objectives and we hope the creation of this group will help develop and grow SECED. Obviously, if there are other ideas or initiatives that you feel would benefit the Society, then please let us know.

You may have already seen the ‘Snapshot’ initiative that we trialled at a couple of evening meetings last year, where-by one of the Young Members’ Group delivers a short pres-entation or ‘Snapshot’ into something they have been work-ing on or researching, prior to the main evening lecture. These will help showcase the wide variety of people and experience that we have within the young members of the Society and provide more interesting topics for discussion

SECED Young Members’

Group Special Issue

Mark ScorerAtkins, LondonSECED Committee Member

2 For updates on forthcoming events go to www.seced.org uk | SECED Newsletter Vol. 29 No. 1 April 2018

(AUTh). His research studies focus on the development of performance-based seismic design procedures for bridges using advanced analysis tools. Prior to commencing his doctoral studies, he worked as an independ-ent consulting Structural Engineer, a Research Assistant at AUTh, and delivered design projects associated with the restoration of historic structures at the Hellenic Ministry of Culture. He is a member of the Hellenic Society for Earthquake Engineering, and since 2015, he serves as a member of the BSI Working Group for EN1998-2 dealing with the system-atic review of ‘Eurocode 8 — Part 2: Bridges’ as part of the Eurocode evolution programme.

Fiona Hughes (University of Cambridge)Fiona Hughes is a PhD Student in the Department of Engineering, at the University of Cambridge. She is us-ing dynamic centrifuge modelling to investigate whether the uplift forces provided by basement storeys during the liquefied period can be used to reduce liquefaction-induced settlements of structures. Fiona was part of the 2016 EEFIT reconnaissance mission to Muisne, Ecuador. In addition, Fiona is currently Chair of the Cambridge University Geotechnical Society.

Vipul Kumar (Mott MacDonald)Vipul Kumar is a Geotechnical Engineer working at Mott MacDonald. One of his main areas of interest at Mott MacDonald is soil–structure interaction analysis using 2D/3D nu-merical tools to assess and optimise engineering design. He is also currently pursuing his PhD as a part-time student based at Schofield Centre, University of Cambridge. When not working, he likes to search for the best Cortado in London.

Jorge Lopez (Arup)Jorge Lopez is a Structural Engineer working at Arup’s seismic team in London. He has seven years of experi-ence in seismic analysis and design of structures in various countries, such as Armenia, Georgia, Philippines and Peru, and different sectors, from en-ergy to international development. In 2016, Jorge joined the EEFIT mission to Ecuador, to assess the building and infrastructure damage from the earthquake.

in the bar afterwards!In the October meeting last year, we officially launched

the Young Members’ Group. Hopefully many of you were able to attend or watched online as it was a great success with some stimulating discussion in the bar afterwards. We were lucky to have five extremely interesting presentations from different earthquake reconnaissance missions. They included site effects in the Kathmandu valley, Nepal; fault rupture mapping in Japan; 3D camera technology in Italy and liquefaction and disaster response mapping in Ecuador. This newsletter includes summaries of three of the presen-tations with links to where you can find out more.

I think you’ll agree that it’s a really exciting time to be part of SECED!

Young Members’ SubcommitteeYoung members will be represented within the Society by the Young Members’ Subcommittee (YMSC), aiming to promote collaboration and the advancement of knowledge in the fields of earthquake engineering and civil engineer-ing dynamics amongst the young members, and to com-municate and represent their work, ideas and concerns to the Society. Formed in July 2017 and assigned with the addi-tional task of shaping and formalising the Young Members’ Group terms of reference within the Society Statutes, the first YMSC brings together 10 talented individuals from both academia and industry. They all share a passion for earthquake and engineering dynamics and have already shown great enthusiasm and ideas in the early meetings. Included as part of this section are brief bios of each new subcommittee member and I hope you’ll have the chance to get to know them over the next year.

Manuela Daví (CH2M Hill)Manuela Daví is a Chartered Geotechnical Engineer at CH2M, spe-cialised in seismic hazard assessment and geotechnical earthquake engi-neering. Since completing her MSc at Politecnico di Milano in 2008, she has worked on a wide range of projects, from seismic design of major infrastructures in areas of high seismicity to probabilistic seismic hazard assessments for nuclear facilities in the UK. Before moving to CH2M in 2012, she spent four years at Studio Geotecnico Italiano in Milan and was a trainee for 6 months at Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia in Milan.

Konstantinos Gkatzogias (City, University of London)Konstantinos Gkatzogias is a Civil Engineer, hold-ing a PhD in Earthquake Structural Engineering from City, University of London, and an MSc in Earthquake Engineering from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki


Valentina Putrino (University College London)Valentina Putrino is a PhD Student at University College London, work-ing on multi-hazard vulnerability of historic masonry structures. She has a background in Architecture and an MSc in Earthquake Engineering with Disaster Management. Her interest and the main topic of her studies are unreinforced masonry buildings, both individual and clusters, subjected to multiple sources of natural hazard, such as earthquake, flood and wind. She has worked on similar projects during her PhD, in particu-lar taking part in a consultancy project to assess the multi hazard vulnerability of priority buildings (churches, con-vents and heritage houses) in Philippines. She took part in the EEFIT Mission to Central Italy after the 2016 Amatrice earthquake, and she also won the EEFIT Mission Research Grant 2017 Edition to continue focusing on the cumulative damage in Norcia, after the late October 2016 events.

Alex Shephard (WYG)Alex Shepherd is an Associate at WYG and works primarily in the nuclear sector. He has worked on a number of the major decommissioning projects in the UK and has a background in seismic design and assessment of structures. Alex has worked with the charity Community Action Nepal, supporting their recon-struction programme following the devastation of the 2015 earthquakes in the region. In 2017 Alex joined a collabo-rative mission between the charity and WYG to visit the region and provide specialist advice on seismic resilience aspects of the project.

Euan Stoddart (MMI Engineering)Dr Euan Stoddart is a Senior Engineer within MMI Engineering’s Major Hazards Group. His primary area of expertise is structural dynamics op-erating within the defence, security, nuclear and oil/gas industries. This primarily involves analysis and assessment of structures and subsystems (such as buildings, glazing systems, pipe-work, nuclear facilities, dock systems, etc.) for a variety

of extreme and accidental loading conditions including seismic, blast and impact. Based in Warrington, in his free time Euan can often be found mountain biking in one of the nearby National Parks.

Sarah Tallett-Wiliams (Atkins)Sarah Tallett-Williams is a Graduate Geotechnical Engineer at Atkins, hav-ing completed her PhD at Imperial College London. Her research fo-cussed on seismic site characterisation and probabilistic assessment of shear wave profiles, winning a Santander Scholarship. She has also gained experience in geologi-cal characterisation and geophysical testing. She currently volunteers for the international COSMOS project to de-velop comprehensive guidelines of non-invasive methods for the use of non-geophysicists. In 2015, she took part in the EEFIT mission to Nepal. Sarah is the first Chair of the SECED Young Members’ Subcommittee.

Vasiliki Tsaparli (Imperial College London)Vasiliki (Vasia) Tsaparli is a Civil Engineer specialising in Geotechnics, with professional experience in pri-vate and public sector projects. Vasia conducted her PhD research on the numerical modelling of earthquake-induced liquefaction, as part of the Soil Mechanics Group in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering at Imperial College London. Her PhD studies were funded by the Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). She is also a graduate of the MSc course on Soil Mechanics offered by the Department, for which she won the ‘Buro Happold’ award, while she obtained her five-year Diploma in Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens, Greece. She also worked as a Geotechnical Engineer for Geotechnical Consulting Group (LLP), as well as a Shift Engineer in Crossrail, work-ing with Keller Bam Ritchies JV on compensation grout-ing. Currently, she is a Research Associate in the Petroleum Engineering & Rock Mechanics Group of the Department of Earth Science & Engineering at Imperial College London, looking at the numerical modelling of fracture growth in rocks.


Editor’s note: On 25th October 2017, the Institution of Civil Engineers hosted the first event organised by the SECED Young Members’ Group. The session included presentations from Fiona Hughes (University of

Cambridge), Valentina Putrino (University College London), and Sarah Tallett-Williams (Atkins), among others. The speakers provided the following summaries of their presentations and research.

Dynamic Response of a Structure with a Basement Sited in Liquefiable Soil

Fiona HughesDepartment of Engineering, University of Cambridge, UK

During earthquake events both surface and subsur-face structures can experience large displacements due to soil liquefaction. This is particularly prob-

lematic when differential settlements occur across a struc-ture or between adjacent utilities. In addition, ground ac-celerations transmitted to structures can cause significant damage, especially when the frequency content is close to the resonant frequency of the structure. Affordable mitiga-tion methods are required that can reduce both the lique-faction-induced displacement and the seismic demand of structures.

Ground improvement methods such as in situ densifica-tion (Coelho et al., 2007) and reducing the degree of satura-tion of the soil (Zeybek and Madabhushi, 2016) can be used to reduce liquefaction-induced settlements of structures. However, these methods increase the seismic demand of structures. By reducing the extent of soil liquefaction, the natural isolation, provided by the attenuation of horizontal accelerations in the liquefied soil, is removed.

Research is currently being undertaken to determine whether basement storeys can be used to reduce lique-faction-induced settlements by providing an uplift force during the liquefied period. A series of dynamic centri-fuge experiments have been undertaken using the beam centrifuge at the University of Cambridge (Schofield, 1980; 1981). A photograph of a model loaded on the centrifuge is shown in Figure 1; i.e., a single-degree-of-freedom sway frame superstructure connected to a rigid basement sited in a liquefiable layer of loose sand.

In static conditions, the bearing pressure applied by the structure is reduced due to the hydrostatic pressure act-ing on the basement located below the water table. When liquefaction of the soil adjacent to the structure occurs, the uplift force increases further, leading to an additional re-duction of the bearing pressure (Hughes and Madabhushi, 2017). It is anticipated that the lower bearing pressure will allow full liquefaction to occur in the soil beneath the basement, naturally isolating the structure. This is in con-trast to structures on shallow foundations (with no base-ment) where a bulb of non-liquefied soil forms below the

foundation (Adamidis and Madabhushi, 2017).Base acceleration of insufficient amplitude to cause

liquefaction was observed to be transmitted through the saturated loose sand layer without being amplified or at-tenuated (Figures 2a and 2c). The ground floor acceleration was of the same magnitude as the base shaking, and the frequency content was also preserved.

In contrast, when base shaking caused full liquefaction, horizontal accelerations were progressively attenuated as they were transmitted upwards from the base of the model (Figures 2b and 2d). The ground floor accelerations were therefore significantly smaller than those generated at the base. The reduction in bearing pressure, deriving from the presence of the basement, enabled full liquefaction to occur in the underlying soil, naturally isolating the structure.

Acknowledgements This work was supervised by Professor Gopal Madabhushi. This research was made possible by the assistance of the technicians at the Schofield Centre, University of Cambridge, and the financial support of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

Figure 1: Model loaded on the centrifuge.


Figure 2: Dynamic response under sinusoidal excitation (all values in prototype scale) with a peak base acceleration of 0.035g (EQ 1, left) and 0.43g (EQ 2, right): (a, b) Excess pore pressure (EPP) generated at a depth

of 0.96 m beneath the basement of the structure during EQ 1 and EQ 2; (c, d) ground floor (red) and base (black) acceleration (Acc) during EQ 1 and EQ 2.

ReferencesAdamidis, O., & Madabhushi, S. P. G. (2017). Deformation mechanisms under shallow foundations on liquefiable lay-ers of varying thickness. Géotechnique. Available at: ht-tps://doi.org/10.1680/jgeot.17.P.067.Coelho, P. A. L. F., Haigh, S. K., Madabhushi, S. P. G., & O’brien, T. S. (2007). Post-earthquake behaviour of footings employing densification to mitigate liquefaction. Proceedings of the ICE, Ground Improvement, 11: 45–53.Hughes, F., & Madabhushi, S. P. G. (2017). Control of liq-uefaction induced settlement of buildings using basement structures. Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Performance-Based Design in Earthquake Geotechnical

Engineering, Vancouver, Canada.Schofield, A. N. (1980). Cambridge Geotechnical Centrifuge Operations. Géotechnique, 30: 227–268.Schofield, A. N. (1981). Dynamic and earthquake ge-otechnical centrifuge modelling. Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Recent Advances in Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering and Soil Dynamics. St. Louis, USA.Zeybek, A., & Madabhushi, S. P. G. (2016). Centrifuge testing to evaluate the liquefaction response of air-inject-ed partially saturated soils beneath shallow foundations. Bulletin of Earthquake Engineering, 15: 339–356.

Existing Menthods and New Technologies for Damage Assessment in Post-Disaster

Reconnaissance MissionsValentina PutrinoUniversity College London, UK

Omnidirectional (OD) camera technology contin-ues to advance and has the potential to improve the outcomes of post-earthquake engineering re-

connaissance missions. OD imagery can be used to virtually ‘walk through’ damaged streets post hoc with a 360-degree immersive view. One aim of reconnaissance missions is to assess the damage caused to structures and infrastructure, however, time constraints and safety concerns represent

challenges for surveyors, often hindering the process of data collection.

Following the Mw 6.2 Amatrice earthquake on the 24th of August 2016, an Earthquake Engineering Field Investigation (EEFIT) team was deployed on site, aiming at collecting vulnerability and damage data at urban level, including observations of structural damage in masonry residential and heritage buildings.

https://doi.org/10.1680/jgeot.17.P.067

https://doi.org/10.1680/jgeot.17.P.067


Figure 1: Omnidirectional camera surveying by foot in Amatrice (© EEFIT – Valentina Putrino).

Prior to the field deployment, satellite imagery was used to obtain information about the damage extent in buildings and infrastructure as part of a preparatory desk study. Relevant maps were retrieved from the European Emergency Management Service ‘Copernicus’, a serv-ice which is activated in the aftermath of any natural or man-made disaster to provide with damage maps and help recovery and disaster management activities (http://emer-gency.copernicus.eu/mapping/ems/service-overview).

During the field deployment, rapid visual survey forms, specifically tailored to the Italian building stock (including both masonry and reinforced concrete structures), were used to carry out damage assessment and classification of structural and non-structural building components based on the European Macroseismic Scale (EMS-98). However, in cases when time restrictions due to unsafe field condi-tions were applied regarding the stay within red zones (i.e., zones exceeding safety limits, accessible only under the

supervision of Civil Protection or Firefighter volunteers), OD camera technology was employed as the only suitable damage screening method.

A series of 360-degree images (e.g., Figure 1) were tak-en while walking through debris and collapsed buildings in the damaged towns of Amatrice, Pescara del Tronto, Arquata del Tronto and Accumoli, allowing post hoc desk-top ‘virtual survey’ to be conducted remotely.

The damage assessment carried out by means of OD imagery was then compared to the satellite images avail-able from Copernicus, enabling correlations of the dam-age level between the two different sources of information (Figure 2).

Additionally, 360 images have been shared on the Mapillary web platform (https://www.mapillary.com), pro-viding users with records of buildings’ damage condition that was irreversibly worsened after the late October seis-mic events.

Figure 2: Superposition of damage data layers: Copernicus map (coloured contour building lines) and field survey (coloured solid building plans) for the town of Amatrice (© EEFIT – Valentina Putrino).

http://emergency.copernicus.eu/mapping/ems/service-overview

http://emergency.copernicus.eu/mapping/ems/service-overview

https://www.mapillary.com


Results from the comparison of the various damage screening methods used during the 2016 Central Italy EEFIT Mission will be presented in more detail in forth-coming publications.

In addition, the significant capabilities of the OD camera

in improving the extent of the dataset of information and the issues to be considered when carrying out the assess-ment for different levels of damage grades will be dis-cussed.

A Review of Site Amplification in the Kathmandu Valley During the 2015 Mw 7.6 Gorkha Earthquake

Sarah Tallett-WilliamsAtkins, London

The 2015 Mw 7.6 Gorkha Earthquake, Nepal, caused more than 9,000 fatalities and estimated losses of $7 billion USD (National Society for Earthquake

Technology – Nepal, 2015). An Earthquake Engineering Field Investigation (EEFIT) mission was deployed to col-lect perishable data and disseminate to the UK seismic community.

One unusual aspect of the earthquake was the damage pattern in the Kathmandu Valley. In the centre of the val-ley near the Annapurna Hotel, only superficial damage was observed. Both tall slender buildings and roof water stor-age butts on steel frames remained standing. In contrast, other areas were severely damaged including near Balaju Park, Siddhitol and in the historical centres of Bhaktapur and Bungmati (Figure 1).

The Kathmandu Valley is composed of heterogeneous sediments up to 400 m depth (Aydan and Ulusay, 2015). The deposits’ variation in thickness and stiffness can cause amplification or deamplification of the surface shaking. Thus, we aimed to quantify the soil amplification that had occurred in damaged regions.

Four areas (Figure 1b) were tested using the Horizontal to Vertical Spectral Ratio (HVSR) method (Nakamura, 1989). This method uses changes of ellipticity of the ambi-ent Rayleigh wave field to ascertain stiffness boundaries. The HVSR method was chosen as the equipment required is portable, but the method is limited by indeterminacy, re-quiring the first stratum depth to be known (Castellaro and Mulargia, 2009). This was achieved using previously doc-umented measurements to constrain the results (Tallett-Williams et al., 2016).

The results showed similar stiffness of deposits across the valley. However, in the Siddhitol region at the valley edge, the soil column is considerably thinner than in the centre of the valley or the historical centres. This affects the natural vibration period of the soil column, which was close to a peak vibration period of the earthquake.

These ground profiles enabled the calculation of simpli-fied site response spectra, but insights are limited by the lack of earthquake records taken on bedrock. Only the KATNP station recording of the earthquake was available (USGS, 2015). The station is situated in the centre of the

Figure 1: (a) Buildings near Annapurna Hotel, close to the centre of the valley with standing slender tower and water butts reported not to have fallen; (b) Locations investigated within Kathmandu Valley (adapted from Tallett-Williams et al., 2016); (c) Complete building collapse and foundation failure in Balaju Park, Siddhitol.


SECED NewsletterThe SECED Newsletter is published quarterly. All contributions of relevance to the members of the Society are welcome. Manuscripts should be sent by email. Diagrams, pictures and text should be attached in separate electronic files. Hand-drawn diagrams should be scanned in high resolution so as to be suitable for digital reproduction. Photographs should likewise be submitted in high resolution. Colour images are welcome.

Please contact the Editor of the Newsletter, Damian Grant, for further details: [email protected]. This edition of the Newsletter was guest edited by Konstantinos Gkatzogias ([email protected]).

valley so includes the soil response biasing the results of the calculated response spectra.

However, when considering the outcrop/ bedrock accel-eration response ratio, the Siddhitol region has a response close to the soil column natural period and is different from the centre of the valley and the historic regions which replicated the KATNP response (Figure 2). Therefore, it is expected that site amplification did occur in the Siddhitol region, while structural failures are likely to be the cause of damage in the historic centres.

Since the earthquake, improvements have been achieved including the siting of new earthquake stations on bedrock (Bhattarai et al., 2016). Yet, the political events in the sum-mer of 2015 and the monsoon caused significant delay in the Nepalese rebuild. These aspects quickly became impor-tant to ensuring future building quality, but could easily be overlooked if the situation is considered from an engineer-ing outlook alone.

Acknowledgements The author thanks Moho for the donation of the Tromino Zero as well as Mike Raines and the 2015 EEFIT Team. The UK Engineering and Physical Science Research Council funded this research as part of Grant EP/I01778X/1.

ReferencesAydan, O., & Ulusay, R. (2015). A quick report on the

2015 Gorkha (Nepal) earthquake and its geo-engineer-ing aspects. Available at: http://iaeg.info [accessed on 26 September 2015].Bhattarai, M., Adhikari, L. B., Gutam, U. P., Bollinger, L., Hernandez, B., Yokoi, T., & Hayashida, T. (2016). Establishing a reference rock site for the site ef-fect study in and around the Kathmandu valley, Nepal. Earth, Planets and Space, 68: 81.Castellaro, S., & Mulargia, F. (2009). Vs30 estimates using constrained H/V measurements. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 99: 761–773.Nakamura, Y. (1989). A method for dynamic character-istics estimation of subsurface using microtremor on the ground surface. Quarterly Report of RTRI, 30: 25–33.National Society for Earthquake Technology – Nepal (2015). Earthquake 2015. Available at: http://www.nset.org.np [accessed on 20 October 2015].Tallett-Williams, S., Gosh, B., Wilkinson, S., Fenton, C., Burton, P., Whitworth, M., Datla, S., Franco, G., Trieu, A., Dejong, M., Novellis, V, White, T., & Lloyd, T. (2016). Site amplification in the Kathmandu Valley dur-ing the 2015 M7.6 Gorkha, Nepal Earthquake. Bulletin of Earthquake Engineering, 14: 3301–3315.USGS (2015). 25th April 2015 Gorkha Earthquake. Available at: http://earthquake.usgs.gov [accessed on 20 October 2015].

Figure 2: Calculated spectral acceleration ratios at the Annapurna Hotel (analogous to Bhaktapur) and Balaju Park, Siddhitol Region (adapted from Tallett-Williams et al., 2016). Though the high ratios of the Annapura Hotel are caused by KATNP recording, the response from the Balaju Park is close to its soil column natural

period and expected to indicate site amplification.

mailto:[email protected]


http://iaeg.info

http://www.nset.org.np

http://www.nset.org.np

http://earthquake.usgs.gov


Notable Earthquakes January 2017 – December 2017Reported by British Geological SurveyIssued by: Davie Galloway, British Geological Survey, February 2018.Non British Earthquake Data supplied by The United States Geological Survey.

Year Day MonTime

Lat LonDep Magnitude

LocationUTC km ML Mb Mw

2017 03 JAN 09:09 24.02N 92.02E 32 5.7 TRIPURA, INDIAOne person killed and five others injured in Tripura, India. Two people killed and three others injured in neighbouring Bangladesh. 2017 03 JAN 18:52 54.44N 1.96E 18 3.8 SOUTHERN NORTH SEAFelt Scarborough (2 EMS).2017 03 JAN 21:52 19.37S 176.05E 12 6.9 FIJI ISLANDS REGION2017 06 JAN 02:33 28.20N 53.10E 10 5.3 SOUTHERN IRANFour people killed and three others injured in the village of Seyfabad, Fars province, Iran.2017 10 JAN 06:13 4.48N 122.62E 627 7.3 CELEBES SEA2017 15 JAN 22:58 53.03N 4.01W 7 1.0 BEDDGELERT, GWYNEDDFelt Llanberis, Minffordd, Tremadog, Waunfawr, Garndolbenmaen, Tregarth, Caernarfon, Penfhynddeudraeth, Blaenau Ffestiniog and Myndd Llandyai, Gwynedd (3 EMS).2017 18 JAN 10:14 42.60N 13.23E 7 5.7 AMATRICE, ITALYFive people killed in the Campotosto, Crognaleto and Teramo areas and, in combination with a winter storm, may have triggered an avalanche that struck a hotel in Farindola, which killed 29 people and injured eleven others.2017 19 JAN 23:04 10.35S 161.34E 36 6.5 SOLOMON ISLANDS2017 21 JAN 16:00 56.36N 5.38W 5 1.2 OBAN, ARGYLL & BUTEFelt North Connel (2 EMS).2017 22 JAN 04:30 6.25S 155.17E 135 7.9 PAPUA NEW GUINEA2017 24 JAN 16:35 56.07N 5.25W 11 2.4 LEPHINMORE, ARGYLL & BUTEFelt Lochgilphead, Lochgair, Kilmory, Minard, Otter Ferry, Leckuary, Ardrishaig, Castleton, Ardfern, Ard-taraig, Clachan of Glendaruael, Tighnabruaich, Kilfinan, Dunoon, Cairnbaan, Tarbet, Strinachullin, Kilmelford, Melldalloch and Colintraive (3 EMS).2017 25 JAN 16:32 56.05N 5.26W 9 1.4 LEPHINMORE, ARGYLL & BUTEFelt Kilmory (2 EMS).2017 10 FEB 14:03 9.91N 125.45E 15 6.5 MINDANAO, PHILIPPINESAt least eight people killed, over 200 injured and around 1,000 houses destroyed or severely damaged in Surigao City, Mindanao.2017 21 FEB 14:09 19.28S 63.91W 596 6.5 BOLIVIA2017 24 FEB 17:28 23.26S 178.80W 414 6.9 FIJI ISLANDS REGION2017 03 MAR 09:28 52.91N 2.15W 13 2.6 STONE, STAFFORDSHIREFelt Oakamoor (2 EMS).2017 05 MAR 00:08 9.83N 125.49E 10 5.7 MINDANAO, PHILIPPINESOne person killed, 41 others injured and further damage in Surigao City, previously weakened by the 10 February event.2017 20 MAR 02:06 54.53N 0.79W 2 1.3 HINDERWELL, N YORKSHIREFelt Hinderwell and Staithes (3 EMS).2017 20 MAR 02:16 54.53N 0.79W 2 1.3 HINDERWELL, N YORKSHIRE


Year Day MonTime



Felt Hinderwell and Staithes (3EMS).2017 20 MAR 04:24 54.51N 0.77W 2 0.8 HINDERWELL, N YORKSHIREFelt Staithes (2 EMS).2017 29 MAR 04:09 56.94N 162.79E 17 6.6 KAMCHATKA, RUSSIA2017 31 MAR 22:24 59.75N 1.90E 11 2.4 NORTHERN NORTH SEA2017 03 APR 17:40 22.68S 25.16E 29 6.5 BOTSWANA2017 05 APR 06:09 35.78N 60.44E 13 6.1 NORTHEAST IRANAt least two people killed, scores more injured and four villages suffered severe damage in the Sefid Sang area.2017 07 APR 10:04 53.07N 2.73E 10 2.7 SOUTHERN NORTH SEA2017 10 APR 23:53 13.77N 89.16W 10 4.8 EL SALVADOROne person killed and three others injured in the San Salvador department.2017 28 APR 20:23 5.50N 125.07E 26 6.9 CELEBES SEA2017 09 MAY 13:52 14.59S 167.38E 169 6.8 VANUATU2017 10 MAY 10:22 51.35N 2.12E 7 2.0 SOUTHERN NORTH SEA2017 10 MAY 21:58 37.64N 75.31E 7 5.4 SOUTHWEST XINJIANGAt least eight people killed, 29 others injured and over 1,500 homes destroyed in Taxkorgan County.2017 13 MAY 18:00 37.77N 57.21E 8 5.6 NORTHEAST IRANAt least three people killed, over 400 others injured and many buildings destroyed or damaged in North Khorasan province.2017 19 MAY 23:14 57.05N 5.74W 8 1.8 KNOYDART, HIGHLANDFelt Inverie, the main village on Knoydart peninsula (3 EMS).2017 29 MAY 14:35 1.29S 120.43E 12 6.6 SULAWESI, INDONESIA2017 02 JUN 20:08 56.91N 5.05W 8 2.0 SPEAN BRIDGE, HIGHLANDFelt Spean Bridge, Roybridge, Gairlochy and Banavie, Highland (3 EMS).2017 02 JUN 22:24 54.03N 170.92E 5 6.8 ALEUTIAN ISLANDS2017 03 JUN 12:32 64.11N 5.99W 10 2.7 NORWEGIAN SEA2017 05 JUN 13:17 53.26N 0.44W 3 2.1 LINCOLN, LINCOLNSHIREFelt Reepham, Stainton by Langworth, Grantham, Grimsby and Sutton-on-Sea (3 EMS).2017 10 JUN 23:05 52.13N 2.36W 7 2.4 MALVERN, WORCESTERSHIREFelt Malvern (3 EMS).2017 12 JUN 12:28 38.93N 26.37E 12 6.3 AEGEAN SEAOne person killed, 15 others injured and scores of homes damaged on Lesbos, Greece.2017 14 JUN 07:29 14.91N 92.01W 93 6.9 GUATEMALAFive people killed, over 20 others injured, some 175 houses damaged and multiple landslides occurred in the region in and around Quetzaltenango, Retalhuleu, San Marcos and Suchitepequez, Guatemala.2017 22 JUN 12:31 13.72N 90.97W 38 6.8 GUATEMALA2017 30 JUN 13:13 58.95N 1.87W 7 4.7 CENTRAL NORTH SEAFelt Lerwick, Sandwick, Sumburgh and Fair Isle (Shetland Islands), Kirkwall (Orkney Islands), Wick and Thurso (Highland) and in Fraserburgh (Aberdeenshire) (3EMS).2017 06 JUL 08:03 11.13N 124.63E 9 6.5 LEYTE, PHILIPPINESFour people killed, at least 100 others injured, over 20 buildings damaged or destroyed and several land-slides occurred on Leyte. 2017 07 JUL 01:42 58.42N 1.58E 11 3.6 CENTRAL NORTH SEA


Year Day MonTime



2017 11 JUL 07:00 49.48S 164.02E 10 6.6 AUCKLAND ISLANDS, NZ2017 16 JUL 10:28 51.70N 3.23W 7 2.1 BARGOED, CAERPHILLY2017 17 JUL 23:34 54.44N 168.86E 10 7.7 KOMANDORSKI ISLANDS2017 18 JUL 02:05 16.42S 73.64W 43 6.4 SOUTHERN PERUOne person killed and another injured by rockfalls at Camana. Landslides blocked several sections of the Pan American Highway between Arequipa and Lima.2017 20 JUL 22:31 36.93N 27.41E 7 6.6 AEGEAN SEATwo people killed and around 120 others injured on Kos and at least 350 others injured in Bodrum, Turkey. A small tsunami, with a maximum wave height of 0.7m, caused some local flooding and some damage along the coasts of Kos and the Bodrum Peninsula.2017 23 JUL 07:58 57.88N 5.29W 7 2.3 BADRALLACH, HIGHLANDFelt Badrallach, Ullapool, Dundonnell, Acheninver, Ardessie, Lochbroom, Loggie, Camusnagauk and Gruinard (3 EMS).2017 02 AUG 02:15 60.94N 3.80E 13 3.1 NORTHERN NORTH SEA2017 02 AUG 05:46 55.10N 7.56W 2 1.4 CO DONEGAL, IRELANDFelt Milford (2 EMS).2017 04 AUG 02:19 57.14N 4.07W 6 1.5 KINGNUSSIE, GRAMPIANFelt Kingnussie and Kincraig (3 EMS).2017 04 AUG 14:43 56.80N 5.89W 12 4.0 MOIDART, HIGHLANDThe BGS received around 380 reports from members of the public via an automatic online questionnaire survey. Felt widely across the region, from Inverness to the northeast, Glasgow in the south and Islay to the west. (5 EMS).2017 04 AUG 14:45 56.80N 5.87W 10 3.4 MOIDART, HIGHLANDFelt widely across the region, from Inverness to the northeast, Glasgow in the south and Islay to the west. (4 EMS).2017 04 AUG 17:35 56.81N 5.87W 10 2.2 MOIDART, HIGHLANDFelt Moidart (3 EMS).2017 08 AUG 13:19 33.19N 103.86E 9 6.5 SICHUAN, CHINAAt least 23 people killed, over 490 others injured and hundreds of buildings destroyed or damaged in the region.2017 09 AUG 04:41 53.51N 4.40W 9 2.0 AMLWCH, ANGLESEYFelt Amlwch (2 EMS).2017 09 AUG 15:34 50.35N 0.41W 5 2.0 ENGLISH CHANNEL2017 18 AUG 02:59 1.11S 13.66W 35 6.6 SOUTH ATLANTIC OCEAN2017 21 AUG 18:57 40.78N 13.94E 3 4.2 TYRRHENIAN SEATwo people killed, 39 others injured and many buildings destroyed or heavily damaged on the Italian Island of Ischia. 2017 26 AUG 23:47 59.82N 2.20E 10 2.0 NORTHERN NORTH SEA2017 08 SEP 04:49 15.02N 93.90W 47 8.2 CHIAPAS, MEXICOAt least 98 killed and over 300 others injured in Chiapas, Oaxaca and Tabasco. Thousands of houses and hun-dreds of schools damaged or destroyed and water services disrupted throughout the region.2017 08 SEP 20:47 52.69N 0.75W 3 1.3 LANGHAM, RUTLANDFelt Langham, Oakham, Ashwell, Market Overton, Barleythorpe, Edith Weston Cottesmore, Whissendine and Burley (3 EMS).2017 14 SEP 08:14 58.75N 1.54E 18 3.3 CENTRAL NORTH SEA


Year Day MonTime



2017 19 SEP 18:14 18.55N 98.49W 48 7.1 PUEBLA, MEXICOAt least 362 people killed (220 in Mexico City, 74 in Morelos, 45 in Puebla, 13 in Estado de Mexico, six in Guer-rero and four in Oaxaca) and over 6,000 others injured in the region. Around 50 buildings collapsed and many others were severely damaged in Mexico City and many other buildings destroyed or damaged in the surrounding areas.2017 23 SEP 12:53 16.63N 95.08W 10 6.1 OAXACA, MEXICOSix people killed (four in Oaxaca and two in Mexico City), several others injured and scores of houses dam-aged in the region. 2017 27 SEP 01:37 54.92N 4.02W 7 1.2 RINGFORD, D & GFelt Dalbeattie (2 EMS).2017 08 OCT 22:34 52.39N 176.77E 119 6.5 ALEUTIAN ISLANDS2017 08 OCT 22:55 56.39N 5.46W 3 1.4 OBAN, ARGYLL & BUTEFelt Mull (2 EMS).2017 09 OCT 17:36 50.60N 2.05W 7 1.9 WORTH MATRAVERS, DORSET2017 10 OCT 18:53 54.26S 8.61E 9 6.7 SOUTH ATLANTIC OCEAN2017 24 OCT 10:47 7.22S 123.07E 553 6.7 FLORES SEA2017 31 OCT 00:42 21.70S 169.15E 24 6.7 LOYALTY ISLANDS2017 01 NOV 02:23 21.65S 168.86E 22 6.6 LOYALTY ISLANDS2017 01 NOV 20:59 55.88N 5.43E 8 2.6 TARBERT, ARGYLL & BUTEFelt Tarbert, Tighnabruaich, Kilfinnan, Ardrishaig, Inverneill and Ormsary (3 EMS).2017 04 NOV 09:00 15.32S 173.17W 10 6.8 TONGA2017 07 NOV 08:46 60.47N 4.69E 11 3.7 NORWEGIAN COAST2017 07 NOV 21:26 4.24S 143.46E 110 6.5 PAPUA NEW GUINEA2017 12 NOV 18:18 34.91N 45.96E 19 7.3 IRAN/IRAQ BORDERAt least 620 people killed, over 6,600 injured and around 27,000 buildings either destroyed or damaged in 14 Iranian provinces. A further ten people killed and 500 injured in Halabja, Iraq.2017 13 NOV 02:28 9.52N 84.49W 19 6.5 COSTA RICAThree people killed in the coastal towns of Jaco and Coronado.2017 19 NOV 15:09 21.50S 168.60E 13 6.6 LOYALTY ISLANDS2017 19 NOV 22:43 21.33S 168.67E 10 7.0 LOYALTY ISLANDS2017 30 NOV 06:32 1.08S 23.43W 10 6.5 MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE2017 13 DEC 18:03 54.22S 2.16E 17 6.5 SOUTH ATLANTIC OCEAN2017 15 DEC 16:47 7.49S 108.17E 90 6.5 JAVA, INDONESIAFour people killed, 36 others injured and nearly 3,000 houses damaged in West and Central Java provinces.2017 20 DEC 08:15 56.64N 5.91W 8 1.5 MORVERN, HIGHLANDFelt Kilchoan (Highland), Gruline (Isle of Mull) and Clachan and Achnacroish (Isle of Lismore) (3 EMS).2017 20 DEC 19:57 34.65N 50.96E 10 4.9 NORTHERN IRANTwo people killed and 117 others injured in Tehran.2017 26 DEC 22:40 56.44N 5.74W 9 1.7 MULL, ARGYLL & BUTEFelt Isle of Mull, Isle of Lismore (Argylll & Bute) and Acharacle (Highland) (3 EMS).2017 27 DEC 11:54 52.80N 1.84E 5 2.1 SOUTHERN NORTH SEA


SECED Earthquake Competition Result 2017On August 4, 2017, an ML 4.0 earthquake struck Moidart, Highland, closing 2017’s SECED Earthquake Competition and awarding victory to Piroozan Aminossehe. Felt widely across the northwest of Scotland, the Moidart earthquake was the largest in the region since the Strathclyde events in Oban (29/9/1986, ML 4.1) and Arran (4/3/1999, ML 4.0).

Piroozan was presented with his bottle of champagne prize at SECED’s September meeting in Warrington, iden-tifying ‘general knowledge of the UK seismicity and, last but not least, good luck’ as prerequisites to success. This

was Piroozan’s second win, joining Chris Browitt in the prominent group of two-time winners (see figure below for previous successful predictions). In 2016’s competi-tion, Stelios Minas foresaw the ML 2.6 earthquake strike in Stone, Staffordshire in March 2017 after a record-breaking waiting period of 10 months.

Look out for Alice Walker, the competition organiser, at the next SECED AGM to enter 2018’s competition on Britain’s next earthquake of 2.5 local magnitude or greater.

Earthquake Competition Winners, 1996–2017

SECEDSECED, The Society for Earthquake and Civil Engineering Dynamics, is the UK national section of the International and Eu-ropean Associations for Earthquake Engineering and is an Associated Society of the Institution of Civil Engineers. It is also sponsored by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, the Institution of Structural Engineers, and the Geological Society. The Society is also closely associated with the UK Earthquake Engineering Field Investigation Team. The objective of the Society is to promote co-operation in the advancement of knowledge in the fields of earthquake engineering and civil engineering dynamics including blast, impact and other vibration problems.

For further information please contact the SECED Secretary at the ICE at: [email protected].


s issn 0967-859x the society for earthquake …...valentina putrino (university college london)...

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